Saturday, 29 August 2015

Easy Caprese!

Keeping
it simple, keeping it fresh, keeping is quick, easy, healthy, light and
delicious... That was what this little idea was all about!

The
regular tomato and mozzarella would have been fine this evening... Had I
thought to buy some bread to go with it! But alas, I am getting on in
years and forgetfulness, ironically, is one of the things that
constantly reminds me of the fact!

It
was suddenly much hotter than had been forecast today- it caught me
unawares and I'm telling you... By the time I got home from the city,
the last thing that I wanted to do was to cook! I know... it's a rare
occurrence... But it even happens to me!

The only thing I
needed to do here was to boil some water and my electric kettle took
care of that in less than 2 minutes, which meant that I didn't even have
to turn on the stove... Perfect!

This
was enough salad to have made 3 side-servings, but with this kind of
dish, obviously you don't need to have a strict recipe with weights and
quantities and what-not... You simply need the method and the rest takes
care of itself... However...

For this evenings salad I used 5
tomatoes, 1 ball of mozzarella, about 1 teacupful of couscous, a good,
generous handful of fresh basil and salt, pepper, vinegar and olive oil
of course to season. Very, very, simple.

The
thing is that these are well known and well loved flavors... So there
is me need to mess around at all... Let it be what it is and simply
enjoy the familiarity of it... And relax!

This
was the only bit of tomfoolery that was involved with my salad... I cut
away the tops of the tomatoes in a star shape before emptying them out,
but a clean, straight cut will obviously be just fine!

I
prepared the couscous by simply chopping plenty of basil and adding it
along with salt and pepper, then covering it in boiling water.

I
stirred it through and let it sit for a minute, after which time the
water was absorbed, then repeated with another splash of water to cover
it again. But after all of that torture, I let it sit and rest and get
itself together for the next 15 minutes or so.

Once
the couscous has cooled completely, fluff it up with a fork and then
add the remaining tomatoes, seeded and diced. Season with salt, pepper,
vinegar (I used malt, but red wine or balsamic are also fine) and of
course olive oil.

Yes, I know, there is no vinegar involved in a
classic Caprese salad... But this is the couscous we are seasoning
here, capisce?

Fill
a little couscous into the hollowed-out tomatoes before adding your
mozzarella and basil, then season with salt, pepper and olive oil before
serving... Nothing could be easier! Or more refreshing and delicious!

About Me

My name is Francesco Strazzanti.
Designer by trade, cook by damnation... a curse and a blessing at the same time.
I dedicate this blog to those of you, who like me, CAN cook, but do not like to cook from a recipe. You and I, we like to pick up ideas and try out our own versions of them, or to re-create great meals we have enjoyed elsewhere. We like the feeling of having done it by ourselves. We don't want to read recipes and feel like we have never cooked before in our lives- we want to see and read and be inspired to do our own thing...
So to all of you people out there like me... and I know you are out there- this blog is for you! Enjoy!
Francesco